The temples and convents of Querétaro, founded in order to strengthen the spirit of those who were at the forefront of the evangelizing task in the region, give an account of the splendor of its past. Get to know them!
Wandering aimlessly through the alleys of the city of Querétaro is the best way to get closer to the soul of this colonial city. Among the squares and gardens that frame stately mansions inherited from the viceroyalty, the path leads us through anonymous corners and hidden patios, which show us the authentic Querétaro.
During the first decades of the colonial period, Querétaro was one of the most opulent and important cities in New Spain, since it marked the limit of what they called the civilized world: for the colonizers, further north there was only barbarism, and for They considered it necessary in the locality to found temples and convents where the spirit of laity and religious was strengthened. Franciscans, Discalced Carmelites, Jesuits and Dominicans did not wait and arrived in Querétaro to begin the spiritual conquest of the region, known by the name of Inside Earth. Most of the numerous temples and convents that populate the city date from that time and that even today tell us about the splendor of its past.
Querétaro has always been considered a strategic place due to the distance that separates it from Mexico City. During the wars of the Reform and the French Intervention, it was the scene of continuous battles between liberals and conservatives, suffering the terrible consequences. At that time great monuments were lost, as well as valuable artistic treasures; many temples were demolished and their foundations razed, while its baroque altars of gilded wood were thrown into the fire. Already in the Porfirian era, most of the temples were restored, trying to respect the interior style of the new era; Likewise, squares, gardens, markets and new buildings were built to take the place of the devastated temples and convents.
Although the state was once again the scene of great battles during the Revolution, its buildings and monuments did not suffer as much damage as in the last century, thanks to which, today, we can still enjoy their beauty.
To appreciate Querétaro you have to know it, and for that the best thing is to start at the Plaza de Armas, the starting point and meeting point of the various walkways. These cobbled paths, accessible only to pedestrians, comprise the oldest and most endearing part of the town and give the center a unique and well-differentiated personality. The alleys and corners that keep the history of the city alive and had such evocative names as “Calle de Bimbo” due to the numerous forks it had, or “El Callejón del Ciego”, have been restored and turned into places full of light and colour.
Leaving the walkway 5 de Mayo we arrive at Zenea Garden, a pleasant and green space that serves as a framework for the temple and former convent of San Francisco. The construction of this impressive complex began around 1548, although the first building, with a sober and simple appearance, was demolished in the middle of the 17th century. The current convent is the work of the architect Sebastián Bajas Delgado and was carried out between 1660 and 1698. The temple was completed at the beginning of the 18th century. The facade of the temple is crowned by a clock, under which a pink quarry relief of the Apostle Santiago can be seen, an image that refers to the appearance of the apostle and the founding of the city. The temple, topped by a triple quarry tower and a dome covered with Talavera tiles, served as a cathedral for two centuries, at which time its neoclassical altarpieces were made, which greatly contrast with the baroque overflow of other churches.
The majestic complex formed by the temple and the convent by the temple and the convent did not survive the Reformation intact, since in the days of the liberal governor Benito Zenea it lost its atrium and its chapels, which were converted into the Plaza de la Constitución and the current Garden Zenea. The superb convent is today the headquarters of the Regional Museum of Querétaro, which has one of the most notable viceregal art galleries in the country, as well as various exhibition rooms dedicated to the history of Mexico.
In front of the San Francisco temple, one of the most important arteries of the city is born, Madero Street, where some of the most notable churches and mansions of Querétaro are located. On the corner with Guerrero Street the temple and former convent of Santa Clara. The Royal Convent of Santa Clara de Jesús was founded around 1606, when the viceroy Don Juan de Mendoza granted permission to Don Diego de Tapia to build the cloister of Franciscan religions, in order to house his daughter, a nun. The construction began shortly after and was completed in 1633. During the Colony it was one of the largest and most important convents in New Spain, but today only the church and a small annex remain, since a large part of it was destroyed during the Reform war. When the War of Independence began, Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez served as a prison. Inside the temple you can see its beautiful carved altarpieces, the choir, from where the nuns attended services, separated from the rest of the group by a fence, and the superb wrought iron doors of the pulpit and the hall.
At the corner of Melchor Ocampo and Madero is the temple and former convent of San Felipe Neri. The construction of the San Felipe oratory began in 1786 and was completed in 1805. That same year it received the blessing of Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who officiated the first mass. In 1921 it was declared a cathedral by Pope Benedict XV. The temple is built with tezontle stone and its altarpieces are made of quarry. The façade is a good example of the transition between the Baroque and the Neoclassical. Its façade is considered one of the last baroque works of the city and in it you can admire various decorative elements, such as the capitals of the columns and the medallions. For its part, the nave of the temple is sober and austere, that is to say, completely neoclassical. The former convent currently houses the Ministry of Urban Development and Public Works, known by the name of "Palacio de Conín", in memory of the founder of the city.
Two blocks from the cathedral, on the corner of Ezequiel Montes and General Arteaga, the temple is located and it is the convent of Santa Rosa de Viterbo. The temple shows the maximum splendor reached by the Baroque in Querétaro, which is manifested both in its exterior and interior. On the façade we can see the twin portals characteristic of nunneries, and the flying flying buttresses, which only have a decorative function. Inside, the pulpit inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and silver, the organ and the nave beautifully carved in wood stand out. In the sacristy there is one of the most famous portraits in New Spain painting, that of Sister Ana María de San Francisco y Neve, attributed to the master José Páez.
The convent began in 1670, when a Catholic couple built some humble cells in their garden so that their three daughters could begin and carry out their spiritual lives. Later, Don Juan Caballero y Ocio commissioned the construction of more cells and a chapel. The nuns dedicated their lives to education and in 1727 it was named the Royal College of Santa Rosa de Viterbo. In 1867 the convent was closed and it was used as a hospital until 1963. Nowadays it has returned to being an educational center and the boys return to populate its corridors and its classrooms.
On the corner of Allende and Pino Suárez is the temple and former convent of San Agustín. The construction of the temple is attributed to Don Ignacio Mariano de las Casas and began in 1731. On the sober quarry façade, the image of a crucified Christ surrounded by vines and the niches on the façade stand out, which house images of Saint Joseph, the Virgen de los Dolores, Santa Mónica, Santa Rita, San Francisco and San Agustín. Its dome is one of the most beautiful of the Mexican Baroque, and in it you can admire life-size angels; the temple tower was never finished.
The convent was occupied by the friars from 1743, although the work continued throughout the second half of the 18th century. The cloister of the convent is one of the masterpieces of the Augustinian order in America and one of the most spectacular examples of Baroque in the world. Its fame is due to the striking decoration of the arches and columns that overlook the inner courtyard. Strange stone figures emerge from the columns, which seem to be watching the visitors. The images on the ground floor present fierce faces that, despite everything, manage to attract and fascinate us, while the effigies on the upper level are all the same and their gestures are more serene. On the arches are a series of interlocking objects that form a chain that holds these creatures prisoner.
The former convent of San Agustín has hosted the splendid Museum of Art of Querétaro since 1988. It has a permanent collection that includes European and Mexican works from the fourteenth century, as well as a unique collection of New Spanish painting, fundamentally religious.
A little far from the city center stands the first conventual complex founded in Querétaro, the temple and convent of the Santa Cruz de los Milagros. To talk about this group, you have to immerse yourself in the history of the founding of Querétaro. Legend has it that in 1531, Fernando de Tapia, whose Otomí name was Conín, led his troops against the Chichimeca army on the Sangremal hill. In the middle of the fierce battle, one and the other observed a resplendent light that caught their attention: in the center of it and suspended in the air a white and red cross appeared, and beside it the apostle Santiago rode on a white horse. . With this miraculous appearance the fight ended and Fernando de Tapia took possession of the region. The Chichimecas submitted and asked that a cross be placed on the Sangremal hill as a symbol of the miracle that had occurred there. In that same year a small chapel to the Holy Cross was built and in the middle of the 17th century the church and the convent were erected.
The temple has been completely restored and its main attraction resides in the interior, where there is a carved stone replica of the Holy Cross that appeared in the sky on July 25, 1531. You can also see the beautiful pink quarry altarpieces that They range from the Baroque to the Neoclassical style.
The convent of the Santa Cruz is one of the Queretaro buildings that has seen the most history pass through its corridors. Since 1683 it was the headquarters of the College of Missionaries of Propaganda Fide, one of the most important colleges for evangelizers in America. One of the graduates of this college was Fray Junípero Serra, who, being president of the missions, dedicated himself to studying the living conditions of the pames to alleviate the misery and abandonment in which they lived.
When the Independence movement began, the convent was the prison of the mayor of Querétaro, Don Miguel Domínguez, and a few years later it was taken by Iturbide to be able to dominate Querétaro from the hill. Time passed and the French arrived.
Maximilian of Habsburg used the convent as his headquarters and later it was his first prison.
Today you can visit some parts of the convent: the old kitchen and its interesting natural cooling system, the dining room –formerly called the refectory–, as well as the cell that Maximiliano occupied; Some paintings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are also preserved, and the central garden, in which grows a famous tree whose thorns are shaped like a Latin cross.
Querétaro is, in short, a fascinating city in which art, legend and tradition mix at every turn. Its temples and convents treasure time and keep behind their doors the secrets of the famous characters who forged the history of Mexico.
